Thread: How do I hone this late 18th early 19th century stubby?

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

By the way, are you sure that is a Wostenholm? George Johnson used an arrow and pipe mark, I'm not sure Wostenholm ever did

For what it's worth, I would probably resort to using a few layers of electrical tape to establish a new bevel (using a hone well-suited for bevel-setting of course) and the same number of layers to keep it maintained in the future

yea i know its a GJ, i found that out a bit ago.. that being said is it from 1815? it looks older

Originally Posted by vvti713

yea i know its a GJ, i found that out a bit ago.. that being said is it from 1815? it looks older

I wish I knew! Any date given for it between 1800 and the 1830s would not surprise me though. Sorry I don't remember which thread about this razor stated the scales are shell, so I will just ask here - did they turn out to be shell or can you tell?

Congratulations on your acquisition, there are not as many of those left as I wish there were

Originally Posted by hoglahoo

I wish I knew! Any date given for it between 1800 and the 1830s would not surprise me though. Sorry I don't remember which thread about this razor stated the scales are shell, so I will just ask here - did they turn out to be shell or can you tell?

Congratulations on your acquisition, there are not as many of those left as I wish there were

thanks! i will look into it.. they said i should put some epoxy on it.. how do i apply it? spray or paint it on?

Originally Posted by vvti713

thanks! i will look into it.. they said i should put some epoxy on it.. how do i apply it? spray or paint it on?

Sorry, I have no idea

Blade styles don't rigidly correspond to date ranges though. As an example, here is a razor which also has a blade that seems to date much older according to the graphics you posted above (most notably the tail and tang style), but the scales give it away as something a little more recent. Also, manufacturer info seems to indicate a razor made in the '20s or '30s. So the style rules do not have a strong enough correlation to pin a razor down to a specific decade

How do we know for sure that's a George Johnson rather than Wostenholm? I have a similar razor with the same markings that I have thought to be a Wostenholm. In the book "Standard Guide To Razors" by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart there's a picture of what is claimed to be the earliest known pair of George Wostenholm razors, circa 1750. They say documentation supports the claim and the razors were displayed in the factory museum. Is there any historical record that will help to clear this up? Beautiful razor btw! Sorry if this is off topic.

Originally Posted by mattluthier

How do we know for sure that's a George Johnson rather than Wostenholm?

I don't know for sure that it is, but it would seem strange that G Wostenholm would use Johnson's trademark (arrow + straight pipe) instead of its own, which it strongly promoted

Originally Posted by mattluthier

How do we know for sure that's a George Johnson rather than Wostenholm? I have a similar razor with the same markings that I have thought to be a Wostenholm. In the book "Standard Guide To Razors" by Roy Ritchie & Ron Stewart there's a picture of what is claimed to be the earliest known pair of George Wostenholm razors, circa 1750. They say documentation supports the claim and the razors were displayed in the factory museum. Is there any historical record that will help to clear this up? Beautiful razor btw! Sorry if this is off topic.

thats very interesting.. can you post a pic of that razor? maybe this could be an older razor than the GJ.. it does not have the 7 stars so it could be a wosty!

So i just got the blade in the mail! It is VERY THIN, and i cant really see the scales splitting anywhere new..the ones that are visible look OLD.. i think if i just put neatsfoot oil on them they will be fine.. I dont think i will shave with it because it is so thin and i'd be scared of dropping it while shaving.. i would like a fresh bevel on it but i don't even want to risk mailing it. what do yall think?

toss up a few photos...

Why would you want to own a razor that you're not going to shave with?